We apply quantitative structure modelling to produce detailed information on branch-level metrics in trees. Particularly we are interested in the branch size distribution, by which we mean the total ...volume of branch parts distributed over the diameter classes of the parts. We investigate the possibility of predicting tree branch size distributions for trees in similar growing conditions. The quantitative structure model enables for the first time the comparisons of structure between a large number of trees. We found that the branch size distribution is similar for trees of different height in similar growing conditions. The results suggest that tree height could be used to estimate branch size distribution in areas with similar growing conditions and topography.
Preharvest information on the quality of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) timber is required by the forest industry in Nordic countries, due to the strong association between the technical quality and ...product recovery of this species in particular. The objective of this study was to assess the accuracy of estimating external quality attributes and classifying the quality of mature Scots pine trees by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The tree quality was estimated using a random forest approach, based on both field and TLS measurements of stem diameters, tree height and branch heights. The relative root mean squared errors of the TLS measurements for tree height, diameter, diameter at 6 m and the lowest living and dead branch height were 7.1%, 5.9%, 8.9%, 9.6% and 42.9%, respectively. The highest errors of the branch heights were caused by the shadowing effect in the point cloud data. The quality classes were estimated accurately, based on both (field and TLS measured) tree attributes. Trees were classified with 95.0% and 83.6% accuracy into three operationally-important quality classes and with 87.1% and 76.4% accuracy into five classes using, field or TLS measurements, respectively. The obtained quality classification results were promising. The enhanced tree quality information could have a significant effect on planning forest management procedures, wood supply chains and optimizing the flow of raw materials. To fully integrate tree quality measurements in operational forestry, the methods used should be fully automated.
Detailed information about timber assortments and diameter distributions is required in forest management. Forest owners can make better decisions concerning the timing of timber sales and forest ...companies can utilize more detailed information to optimize their wood supply chain from forest to factory. The objective here was to compare the accuracies of high-density laser scanning techniques for the estimation of tree-level diameter distribution and timber assortments. We also introduce a method that utilizes a combination of airborne and terrestrial laser scanning in timber assortment estimation. The study was conducted in Evo, Finland. Harvester measurements were used as a reference for 144 trees within a single clear-cut stand. The results showed that accurate tree-level timber assortments and diameter distributions can be obtained, using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) or a combination of TLS and airborne laser scanning (ALS). Saw log volumes were estimated with higher accuracy than pulpwood volumes. The saw log volumes were estimated with relative root-mean-squared errors of 17.5% and 16.8% with TLS and a combination of TLS and ALS, respectively. The respective accuracies for pulpwood were 60.1% and 59.3%. The differences in the bucking method used also caused some large errors. In addition, tree quality factors highly affected the bucking accuracy, especially with pulpwood volume.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Knowledge about factors influencing return to work (RTW) after depression-related absence is highly relevant, but the evidence is scattered. We performed a systematic search of PubMed and Embase ...databases up to February 1, 2016 to retrieve cohort studies on the association between various predictive factors and return to work among employees with depression for review and meta-analysis. We also analyzed unpublished data from the Finnish Public Sector study. Most-adjusted estimates were pooled using fixed effects meta-analysis. Eleven published studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria, representing 22 358 person-observations from five different countries. With the additional unpublished data from the 14 101 person-observations from the Finnish Public Sector study, the total number of person-observations was 36 459. The pooled estimates were derived from 2 to 5 studies, with the number of observations ranging from 260 to 26 348. Older age (pooled relative risk RR 0.95; 95% confidence interval CI 0.84–0.87), somatic comorbidity (RR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.77–0.83), psychiatric comorbidity (RR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.83–0.88) and more severe depression (RR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.94–0.98) were associated with a lower rate of return to work, and personality trait conscientiousness with higher (RR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.02–1.10) return to work. While older age and clinical factors predicted slower return, significant heterogeneity was observed between the studies. There is a dearth of observational studies on the predictors of RTW after depression. Future research should pay attention to quality aspects and particularly focus on the role of workplace and labor market factors as well as individual and clinical characteristics on RTW.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Temporary employment and health: a review Virtanen, Marianna; Kivimäki, Mika; Joensuu, Matti ...
International journal of epidemiology,
06/2005, Volume:
34, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Objectives We aimed to review evidence on the relationship between temporary employment and health, and to see whether the association is dependent on outcome measure, instability of employment, and ...contextual factors. Method We systematically searched for studies of temporary employment and various health outcomes and critically appraised 27 studies. Results The review suggests higher psychological morbidity among temporary workers compared with permanent employees. According to some studies, temporary workers also have a higher risk of occupational injuries but their sickness absence is lower. Morbidity may be higher in temporary jobs with high employment instability and in countries with a lower number of temporary workers and unemployed workers. Conclusions The evidence indicates an association between temporary employment and psychological morbidity. The health risk may depend on instability of temporary employment and the context. Confounding by occupation may have biased some of the studies. Additional research to clarify the role of employment instability, hazard accumulation, and selection is recommended.
The aim of this study was to investigate the level and predictors of work disability in different age groups.
We followed young (18 to 34 years), middle-aged (35 to 50 years), and aging (>50 years) ...employees (n = 70,417) for 7 years (2005 to 2011) for all-cause and cause-specific work disability (sickness absence and disability pension). Using negative binomial regression, we obtained both relative risk estimates and absolute rates, that is, days of work disability per person-year.
The greatest relative difference in all-cause, and specifically depression-related work disability, was between young women and young men, and between employees with low versus high levels of education. Aging employees with a low education and chronic somatic disease had the highest levels of musculoskeletal disorder related work disability.
The predictors of work disability vary by age and diagnosis. These results help target age-specific measures for the prevention of permanent work disability.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Background: The extent to which predictors of return to work (RTW) and recurrence of work disability episodes vary by age group is not well understood. Methods: We examined the associations of ...sociodemographic and clinical factors with RTW and recurrence after mental-disorder-related work disability episodes in a cohort of 10,496 Finnish public sector employees. Disability records were derived from national disability registers between 2005 and 2011. Effect modification by age was examined in age groups of 21–34, 35–50 and >50 years.Results: A total of 16,551 disability episodes from mental disorders were recorded. The likelihood of RTW was elevated in age group 21–34 (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.28–1.46) and 35–50 years (HR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.18–1.26) compared to age group >50 years. The risk of a recurrent episode of work disability was higher in age groups >50 (HR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.09–1.52) and 35–50 years (HR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.03–1.41) compared to the youngest age group. Employees with depressive disorders were less likely to RTW than employees with neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders, and this difference increased with age. Low education was associated with increased risk of recurrent work disability episode in age groups of 50 years or younger, while no such association was observed in age group >50 years. Conclusions:The importance of depressive symptoms over neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders as predictors of delayed RTW increases with age, whereas educational differences in the recurrence of an episode diminish by age.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objectives Recent research from industrial employees suggests the components of job control might be differently associated with mortality; high skill discretion with lower but high decision ...authority with higher mortality. This observation has not been confirmed in other cohorts. Methods The purpose of this study is to further examine the association of skill discretion and decision authority with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in an independent cohort of 60 202 public sector employees from the Finnish Public Sector study by stratifying analyses by sex and socioeconomic status. Results High skill discretion and high decision authority were associated with lower all-cause mortality rates in white-collar women. By contrast, high decision authority was associated with higher all-cause mortality rates in blue-collar women. No robust association between skill discretion, decision authority and mortality was observed among men. There were no robust associations with cause-specific mortality rates. Conclusions These results suggest that the associations between components of job control and mortality are mixed and may vary depending on sex and socioeconomic status.
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BFBNIB, CMK, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
The effect of high-dose imatinib (800 mg/day) on survival in the adjuvant treatment of patients with resected KIT exon 9-mutated gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) is not established. Here, the ...association of dose and other clinicopathologic variables with survival was evaluated in a large multi-institutional European cohort.
Data from 185 patients were retrospectively collected in 23 European GIST reference centers. Propensity score matching (PSM) and inverse-probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used to account for confounders. Univariate and multivariate unweighted and weighted Cox proportional hazard regression models were estimated for relapse-free survival (RFS), modified-RFS (mRFS) and imatinib failure-free survival (IFFS). Univariate Cox models were estimated for overall survival.
Of the 185 patients, 131 (70.8%) received a starting dose of 400 mg/d and the remaining 54 (29.2%) a dose of 800 mg/d. Baseline characteristics were partially unbalanced, suggesting a potential selection bias. PSM and IPTW analyses showed no advantage of imatinib 800 mg/d. In the weighted multivariate Cox models, high-dose imatinib was not associated with the survival outcomes RFS: hazard ratio (HR), 1.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.79-1.94; mRFS: HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 0.92-3.10; IFFS: HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 0.79-2.28. The variables consistently associated with worse survival outcomes were high mitotic index and nongastric tumor location.
In this retrospective series of patients with KIT exon 9-mutated GIST treated with adjuvant imatinib, a daily dose of 800 mg versus 400 mg did not show better results in terms of survival outcomes. Prospective evaluation of the more appropriate adjuvant treatment in this setting is warranted.
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